Paper money: unfair to the blind
Have you ever accidentally given someone a $5 when you meant to hand them a $1?
That's what I was thinking about while working on this story about blind people and those with limited vision saying the paper money we now use puts them at a disadvantage.
I talked to Eric Bridges of the American Council of the Blind about how this affects his life:
"... he has to trust store clerks and others to identify his bills for him. He then folds them in different ways to distinguish different denominations in his wallet.
'We rely upon the kindness of strangers and the truthfulness of strangers to indicate to us what denominations they are handing back to us,' he said."
More than 180 countries incorporate accessibility features into their paper currency, whether it's intentionally or by accident. Some of the accommodations can be as simple as colors to help distinguish different bills (check out a gallery of world money here).
Remember that scene in the movie Ray where blind musician Ray Charles beats up a boss who tries to cheat him by paying him ones instead of the larger bills he pretended to count out? That kind of stuff happens all the time, according to this NYT story. And since the population of individuals with low or no vision will only increase as baby boomers age, the current designs leave a growing number of people vulnerable.
Yes, if the U.S Treasury Department changes its policies instead of appealing the appellate court decision, we'll all have to cover the costs of retrofitting our world --- everything from ATMs to possibly our wallets.
But think about all the ways our entire population benefits from existing accommodations for people with disabilities. Plenty of folks take advantage of curbcuts when traveling with wheeled luggage or strollers. We use the handicapped buttons to open doors when our hands are full of stuff.
Categories: Consumer protection, Odds & Ends, Technology
Comments
Did you talk to Marc Maurer of the Baltimore-based (and much more credible) National Federation of the Blind?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C0DE5DB1331F93BA25751C1A9609C8B63
kdogg, I did not, but my colleague Andrew Kipkemboi did, and quoted him in The Sun's story. -- lfk.
Posted by: kdogg36 | May 27, 2008 7:39 AM